{"id":2125,"date":"2014-05-01T12:00:17","date_gmt":"2014-05-01T12:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/?p=2125"},"modified":"2015-05-08T14:33:36","modified_gmt":"2015-05-08T14:33:36","slug":"its-all-greek-to-me-7-great-greek-idioms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/its-all-greek-to-me-7-great-greek-idioms\/","title":{"rendered":"It’s All Greek to Me: 7 Great Greek Idioms"},"content":{"rendered":"

People often say 'it's all Greek to me' when they don't understand something. However, if you're learning Greek you might just have to find a new phrase. Luckily, in Greek you can say \u0395\u1f36\u03bd\u03b1\u03b9 \u03b3\u03b9\u1f70 \u03bc\u03ad\u03bd\u03b1 \u03ba\u03b9\u03bd\u03ad\u03b6\u03b9\u03ba\u03b1<\/i> (\u00cdne gia m\u00e9na kin\u00e9zika), which means 'it's Chinese to me'. If you speak Chinese too, there's always \u0395\u1f36\u03bd\u03b1\u03b9 \u1f00\u03bb\u03b1\u03bc\u03c0\u03bf\u03c5\u03c1\u03bd\u03ad\u03b6\u03b9\u03ba\u03b1<\/i> (\u00cdne alabourn\u00e9zika), meaning 'it's Arabic'. Here are some more Greek idioms to help you on your journey to learning the language:<\/p>\n

\"oia-416135_1280\"<\/a><\/p>\n

1. \u03ba\u03ac\u03bd\u03b5\u03b9 \u03c4\u03b7 \u03c0\u03ac\u03c0\u03b9\u03b1 (k\u00e1ni ti p\u00e1pia)<\/h3>\n

Animal idioms are some of my favourites, but I'm not sure I can make sense of this one. Literally translating 'to do the duck', it means to keep quiet or not mention something in order to avoid being blamed for it. Perhaps Greek ducks are notoriously secretive and\/or naughty animals.<\/p>\n

2. \u03b2\u03b3\u03ae\u03ba\u03b1 \u03b1\u03c0'\u03c4\u03b1 \u03c1\u03bf\u03cd\u03c7\u03b1 \u03bc\u03bf\u03c5 (vy\u00edka ap'ta ro\u00fakha mou)<\/h3>\n

'I was enraged, livid, hopping mad', or as the Greeks say, 'I came out of my clothes'. Picture someone getting so angry that they turn red and shoot right out of their clothing, in a cartoonish sort of way.<\/p>\n

3. \u03b2\u03c1\u03ad\u03c7\u03b5\u03b9 \u03ba\u03b1\u03c1\u03b5\u03ba\u03bb\u03bf\u03c0\u03cc\u03b4\u03b1\u03c1\u03b1 (vr\u00e9khi kareklop\u00f3dara)<\/h3>\n

Every language needs at least one idiom for when it's raining hard. We probably have a few too many ways to talk about the rain in English, but 'it's raining chair-legs' isn't one of them. This is, however, the Greek equivalent of 'it's raining cats and dogs'.<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0 \u03b5\u03af\u03bc\u03b1\u03b9 \u03b1\u03bd\u03bf\u03b9\u03c7\u03c4\u03cc \u03b2\u03b9\u03b2\u03bb\u03af\u03bf (\u00edmai anikht\u00f3 vivl\u00edo)<\/h3>\n

In English, to be an open book is to be a person who has no secrets and is easily readable. In Greek you can also say 'I am an open book', but it's closer to the similar expression 'to wear your heart on your sleeve'. Someone who's an open book in Greece is open about their feelings and emotions.<\/p>\n

5. \u03bc\u03b1\u03cd\u03c1\u03b7 \u03bc\u03ad\u03c1\u03b1 \u03ba\u03b9 \u03ac\u03c1\u03b1\u03c7\u03bd\u03b7 (m\u00e1vri m\u00e9ra ki \u00e1rakhni)<\/h3>\n

Have you had a terrible day? Greek has just the right expression for you. This phrase translates as 'black day and spidery', to mean a dark and gloomy day, or to have a bad day.<\/p>\n

6. \u03b4\u03b5\u03bd \u03be\u03ad\u03c1\u03c9 \u03c4\u03b7\u03bd \u03c4\u03cd\u03c6\u03bb\u03b1 \u03bc\u03bf\u03c5 (den x\u00e9ro tin t\u00edphla mou)<\/h3>\n

If you're not feeling very confident in your Greek abilities, you can use this phrase. It literally translates as 'I don't know my blindness' and is used to express that you're clueless or don't know anything. Try not to be so hard on yourself though!<\/p>\n

7. \u03bc\u03bf\u03c5 \u03ad\u03c6\u03b1\u03b3\u03b5\u03c2 \u03c4\u03b1 \u03b1\u03c5\u03c4\u03b9\u03ac (mou \u00e9phayes ta afti\u00e1)<\/h3>\n

This phrase is perhaps a bit of strange one. It literally means 'you ate my ears', but is used to say that someone is too loud or talking too much, or that they're being too pushy about something.<\/p>\n

If these Greek idioms have you wanting more, you can take the Greek level test<\/a> to see how much you already know. Do you have any great Greek idioms we've missed out? Let us know below!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

People often say ‘it’s all Greek to me’ when they don’t understand something. However, if you’re learning Greek you might just have to find a new phrase. Luckily, in Greek you can say \u0395\u1f36\u03bd\u03b1\u03b9 \u03b3\u03b9\u1f70 \u03bc\u03ad\u03bd\u03b1 \u03ba\u03b9\u03bd\u03ad\u03b6\u03b9\u03ba\u03b1 (\u00cdne gia m\u00e9na kin\u00e9zika), which means ‘it’s Chinese to me’. If you speak Chinese too, there’s always \u0395\u1f36\u03bd\u03b1\u03b9(\u2026)<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t \t\t\t\tCONTINUE READING »<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":2127,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,236,28],"tags":[268,266,142,66,72],"class_list":["post-2125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-everyday-language","category-must-know","category-culture-travel","tag-greece","tag-greek","tag-idioms","tag-language","tag-tourist"],"yoast_head":"\nIt's All Greek to Me: 7 Great Greek Idioms<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn 7 Greek idioms, plus the Greek for 'it's all Greek to me'!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/its-all-greek-to-me-7-great-greek-idioms\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"It's All Greek to Me: 7 Great Greek Idioms\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Learn 7 Greek idioms, plus the Greek for 'it's all Greek to me'!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/its-all-greek-to-me-7-great-greek-idioms\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Listen & Learn\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-05-01T12:00:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-05-08T14:33:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/GreekIdioms-Mstyslav-Chernov-e1398874777744.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"450\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"299\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Laura Ellis\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Laura Ellis\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/its-all-greek-to-me-7-great-greek-idioms\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/its-all-greek-to-me-7-great-greek-idioms\/\",\"name\":\"It's All Greek to Me: 7 Great Greek Idioms\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/its-all-greek-to-me-7-great-greek-idioms\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/its-all-greek-to-me-7-great-greek-idioms\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/GreekIdioms-Mstyslav-Chernov-e1398874777744.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-05-01T12:00:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-05-08T14:33:36+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/3800c82eecbba0103876cf422ccbfe4d\"},\"description\":\"Learn 7 Greek idioms, plus the Greek for 'it's all Greek to me'!\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/its-all-greek-to-me-7-great-greek-idioms\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/its-all-greek-to-me-7-great-greek-idioms\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/its-all-greek-to-me-7-great-greek-idioms\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/GreekIdioms-Mstyslav-Chernov-e1398874777744.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/GreekIdioms-Mstyslav-Chernov-e1398874777744.jpeg\",\"width\":450,\"height\":299,\"caption\":\"Photo by Mstyslav Chernov\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/its-all-greek-to-me-7-great-greek-idioms\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"It’s All Greek to Me: 7 Great Greek Idioms\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Listen & Learn\",\"description\":\"Language Courses and Language Services UK\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/3800c82eecbba0103876cf422ccbfe4d\",\"name\":\"Laura Ellis\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d2857b6d064e74578924296bdcf24b9f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d2857b6d064e74578924296bdcf24b9f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Laura Ellis\"},\"description\":\"Laura is a lover of all things languages and wishes she were better at learning them. She lives in Cardiff, the capital of Wales, where she writes, sings and is trying to teach herself to play guitar.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/author\/laura-ellis\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"It's All Greek to Me: 7 Great Greek Idioms","description":"Learn 7 Greek idioms, plus the Greek for 'it's all Greek to me'!","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/its-all-greek-to-me-7-great-greek-idioms\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"It's All Greek to Me: 7 Great Greek Idioms","og_description":"Learn 7 Greek idioms, plus the Greek for 'it's all Greek to me'!","og_url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/its-all-greek-to-me-7-great-greek-idioms\/","og_site_name":"Listen & Learn","article_published_time":"2014-05-01T12:00:17+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-05-08T14:33:36+00:00","og_image":[{"width":450,"height":299,"url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/GreekIdioms-Mstyslav-Chernov-e1398874777744.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Laura Ellis","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Laura Ellis","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/its-all-greek-to-me-7-great-greek-idioms\/","url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/its-all-greek-to-me-7-great-greek-idioms\/","name":"It's All Greek to Me: 7 Great Greek Idioms","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/its-all-greek-to-me-7-great-greek-idioms\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/its-all-greek-to-me-7-great-greek-idioms\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/GreekIdioms-Mstyslav-Chernov-e1398874777744.jpeg","datePublished":"2014-05-01T12:00:17+00:00","dateModified":"2015-05-08T14:33:36+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/3800c82eecbba0103876cf422ccbfe4d"},"description":"Learn 7 Greek idioms, plus the Greek for 'it's all Greek to me'!","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/its-all-greek-to-me-7-great-greek-idioms\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/its-all-greek-to-me-7-great-greek-idioms\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/its-all-greek-to-me-7-great-greek-idioms\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/GreekIdioms-Mstyslav-Chernov-e1398874777744.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/GreekIdioms-Mstyslav-Chernov-e1398874777744.jpeg","width":450,"height":299,"caption":"Photo by Mstyslav Chernov"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/its-all-greek-to-me-7-great-greek-idioms\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"It’s All Greek to Me: 7 Great Greek Idioms"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/","name":"Listen & Learn","description":"Language Courses and Language Services UK","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/3800c82eecbba0103876cf422ccbfe4d","name":"Laura Ellis","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d2857b6d064e74578924296bdcf24b9f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d2857b6d064e74578924296bdcf24b9f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Laura Ellis"},"description":"Laura is a lover of all things languages and wishes she were better at learning them. She lives in Cardiff, the capital of Wales, where she writes, sings and is trying to teach herself to play guitar.","url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/author\/laura-ellis\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2125"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2125"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2125\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3202,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2125\/revisions\/3202"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}